ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN

Transcription

1 INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES WINTER 2016 N LOCATION ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN The Church Continues to Grow in China by the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chan, area director for East Asia and India During a visit to China from October 28 to November 9, 2015, International Ministries (IM) Executive Director Reid Trulson and I observed astounding continued church growth as we traveled extensively to meet with longtime partner organizations. This trip included seeing the Rev. Xiao Hong Xu, general secretary of the National Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), and Elder Enlin Ou, director of the Overseas Department of the China Christian Council (CCC) and TSPM. Reid noted that CCC and TSPM are two organizations that encourage unity and provide services for the Protestant church in China, while promoting the three principles of self-government, self-support and self-propagation. IM has also airmed these principles since the start of its mission work in the early 1800s. They are marks of church health in every cultural context. During our time with the Rev. Xu, he spoke of the miraculous growth of the Chinese church that occurred in rural areas from 1980 to That growth included the Yunnan Province, home to the largest number of ethnic minority groups in China. Eleven university students from that province whom we met, pictured above, wore traditional clothing identifying their ethnic groups. When many rural people moved to urban centers for employment in the 90s, it reduced the availability of more educated and younger leadership within the rural churches while challenging the city churches to reshape their ministries to meet the needs of migrant Christians and seekers. The Rev. Xu said, About 500,000 new believers are baptized each year now! And we are working very hard to train pastors and elders through 21 established theological seminaries and Bible schools. We are facing the pressure of producing not only pastors but also trained Christian workers who can manage senior homes, AIDS prevention and treatment services and drug addiction rehabilitation centers as the churches undertake new ministries. (continued on page 4)

2 The Wa and the Spirit by Reid Trulson, Executive Director International Ministries is excited about launching its new strategic and operational plan, Responding to the Call, which outlines four areas in which IM will seek focused growth over the upcoming decade. Watch for more details in the next On Location! IN THIS ISSUE: Focus on China Paul wrote that we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV) But occasionally we are granted a glimpse of how the Holy Spirit is at work before, while and after we fulfill our parts in God s plan. William Marcus Young and his wife Alta Dell Mason were American Baptist missionaries sent to northern Burma in While working among the Lahu people, the Youngs learned of the headhunting, slaveholding Wa, a fearsome warrior society living on both sides of the Burma-China border. The Youngs felt drawn to the Wa and began praying for them. Meanwhile, unknown to the Youngs, a traditional Wa prophet in China told some of the elders that the Wa had not been worshiping the true God. He prophesied that if some Wa men followed his white pony, they would discover a man with a book that could tell them about this God. The prophet released his pony, which trekked into the forest. Several men followed the pony over more than 200 mountainous miles. Finally it led them across the border into Burma and down William Marcus Young to the trading town of Kengtung. The pony surprised the men by walking to a hole in the ground near a house on the edge of the city. Looking into the hole, they saw a man digging for water. That man was William Marcus Young. He, in turn, was amazed to be confronted by Wa warriors asking him if he had a book that could tell them about the true God! This began Young s work among the Wa that, in several short years, led more than 10,000 Wa people to become followers of Jesus. The Wa story continued as succeeding generations heard and responded to the good news of God who loves them and has sent Jesus to bring them salvation. The gospel continues to grow among the Wa people today. Last November, Benjamin Chan and I worshiped in one of Yunnan Province s Wa churches. The church s pastor is actually a descendant of one of the men who followed the white pony to William Marcus Young! God calls us into mission. But in ways unknown to us, the Spirit of Christ is at work before we arrive, while we are serving and after we are gone. This issue of International Ministries ON LOCATION examines several ways we see God at work in China today. CHINA Registration opens February 29 WORLD MISSION CONFERENCE July 4 9, 2016 Green Lake Conference Center Green Lake, Wisconsin N LOCATION INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES WINTER 2016, VOL. 8, NO. 1 Reid S. Trulson, executive director Catherine Nold, communications director Laura Timmel, editorial assistant Devon Nassif, senior designer To subscribe to this free newsletter, send your name & address to: On Location International Ministries P.O. Box 851 Valley Forge, PA For more information, contact Catherine Nold catherine.nold@internationalministries.org Phone:

3 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. (Matthew 6:10, NABRE) 2016 Theme On Earth as in Heaven Biblical Reflection: Matthew 6:10 by Stan Slade, associate executive director of program and global consultant Great news Claudia and Caleb are expecting! For Claudia and Caleb (to say nothing of their family and friends), everything has changed. Something big is coming. And there is much to do in the meantime! What is true in a small way for every Caleb and Claudia is abundantly true for our world. In Jesus, God made the world a dierent place. Because of Jesus, something big is coming. And there is much to do in the meantime! Jesus announced that the reign of God had come. He embodied its presence in the things he did. He expressed its character in the things he said. Saying and doing these things led directly to his death. And then, amazingly, the full meaning and truth of what he had said and done burst upon the world in his resurrection. Great news death will not have the last word! Hate and injustice will not go on forever. Ultimately, it is life and love that will remain. God made it so by raising Jesus from the dead. He will make it fully so when Jesus returns. In the meantime, he is filling the world with glimpses and foretastes of what is coming and the invitation to live now in its light. When all is finally said and done, the most important reality will be Emmanuel, God with us. (Revelation 21:5) The world will be so radically renewed that it merits the description, a new heaven and a new earth. (v. 1) And what God showed John of Patmos was the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. (v. 2) So Jesus taught his followers to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. (Matthew 6:10, NABRE) That is what we seek. We cannot build the kingdom, for it is the work of God. But God has not only graciously invited humanity to enter into the life of the present-and-coming kingdom; he has actually invited us to join in the work of God. The mission of God embraces every dimension of life. First and foremost, it reconciles the deep division that human sin has torn in the fabric of our relationship with God. (2 Corinthians 5:19) Humanity s sin has seeped into every part of life and creation, so its corruption will only be corrected when every part of life and creation has been touched with the redeeming grace of God. As Paul saw so clearly, the full and final redemption of fallen humanity will mean glorious liberation for the whole of creation. (Romans 8:19-21) International Ministries (IM) is Responding to the Call to participate in God s mission to all humanity and all creation. IM joins with partners around the world and across the U.S. and Puerto Rico to serve as agents of God s redeeming love in the most holistic, integral way possible. Together, we bear witness to the saving work of Jesus in words and actions of almost limitless variety. Great news Jesus has risen! The final victory of God in Christ is still on the way, but we can begin to live in its light today. Join us in Responding to the Call. Together, let us work, live and pray for the day that is coming, when the justice, mercy and love of God will be fully present on earth as in heaven. (Note: The author gratefully acknowledges that this reflection owes much to the work of N. T. Wright, Simply Good News: Why the Gospel is News, and What Makes It Good [New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2015].) ON LOCATION WINTER

4 Mission Partnership Is Alive in China The Church Is Continuing to Grow in China (continued from page 1) As opportunities became available in China, IM has been active in training church leaders. Beginning in 2007, through the eort of the Rev. Dr. Gam Shae, former IM missionary and my current special assistant on Yunnan relations, IM developed a strategic partnership with the Nu Shui County Bible Training Center in the Nujiang Prefecture through the Yunnan Christian Council and TSPM. The Center equips Christian workers to serve the 310 churches and 30,000 Christians in Nu Shui County, which has a population of approximately 150,000 people. IM has funded the construction of the Center s women s dormitory as well as the purchase of beds, desks and chairs. Additionally, IM provides an annual grant to sponsor students room and board. Reid and I celebrated IM s historic evangelistic work in China when we visited an ethnic Wa village, two Wa churches and a Wa Christian workers training center. There are about 70,000 Wa people in the Pu er Prefecture, and about 13,000 (or 17%) of them are Christians. There are 40 Wa churches in the Lancang County of the Pu er Prefecture. Our Wa sisters and brothers were excited to receive us, their two distant cousins in the faith. As part of our first church visit, Reid preached in the Sunday worship service, which was followed by a gathering outdoors for singing and dancing. This is a well-known way in which the Wa express their authentic high energy and cheerful spirit. Reid and I also had a wonderful opportunity to dialogue with the faculty and to speak to the students. I led two training workshops on interactive Bible study and conflict transformation with about 60 students. These students, mostly between 18 and 20 years old, will go back to serve their churches after two years of training. The second Wa church we visited had just completed a new church building. The church members, who mostly work in the sugar cane fields, proudly told us how they saved up money and invested $80,000 to construct their building. We also visited the Lahu Christian Workers Training Center in Lancang County. There are about 200,000 Lahu in the county, and they repre- sent about half of the Lahu population in China and one third of the Lahu in the world. The Lahu Center was established earlier than the Wa Center; it started in 1983 and in 2006 began oering a two-year program to train future church leaders. This Center also receives strong support from 58 churches they provide rice, vegetables and sometimes even meat to feed the 11 faculty and 70 students. Like those in the Wa Center, the students of the Lahu Center will serve as pastors and leaders of their churches after they complete their training, despite their young age. While they attend classes, the students from the center make visits to area villages where they sing, dance and share the good news of Jesus. As a result of the students witness, during one of their 2015 visits, 90 families came to faith in Christ. Clearly, the church is continuing to grow in China! The China Christian Council (CCC) and the National Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) facilitate IM s work with the Protestant church in China by seeking to stimulate church growth and help the church in China to partner with churches worldwide. The Rev. Xiao Hong Xu, TSPM s general secretary, participated in the IM World Mission Conference and the International Partner Consultation in Green Lake, Wisconsin, on July 12 26, During a visit by IM Executive Director Reid Trulson and Area Director Benjamin Chan to China last October, the Rev. Xu airmed the value of the Consultation. He told of CCC and TSPM s similar eort to listen to local Chinese church leaders and scholars at a recent conference. He also spoke highly of IM s global network and eorts to listen to and dialogue with churches around the world in shaping IM s future mission focus. On behalf of TSPM, he welcomed IM s continued partnership. For many years, IM has provided scholarships for the graduate study of CCC and TSPM pastors and seminary teachers. Since Ben and Reid s visit, IM has now been invited by the Yunnan Christian Council and TSPM to strengthen its role in China by helping with the training and the faculty and curriculum development of the Christian Workers Training Centers in Yunnan. While Yunnan has 65 such centers, IM will focus on the Lisu, Wa and Lahu ethnic centers with the goal of sharing the model with the other centers. As a first step in this initiative, IM has reassigned Ivy and Emerson Wu to serve as IM regional development workers to assist in the growth of Christian disciples and workers in East Asia. They will be based in Hong Kong and give special attention to the training program in Yunnan. Recently, the Wus successfully helped the Macau Bible Institute to develop a new campus and to redesign its study program. They will use these same skills and experiences to bless the training centers in Yunnan. Do you want to teach in China? You can help with this strategic mission through your prayer and financial support. IM also needs trainers. If you have experience teaching, or are willing to learn to teach, in a cross-cultural and contextual setting in China, you are welcome to join IM s teaching team. Please contact ben.chan@internationalministries.org for further information about supporting this program or being a volunteer trainer. Xiao Hong Xu (second from the right) presents a gift to Reid Trulson, with Benjamin Chan (far left) and Elder Enlin Ou, CCC director of the Overseas Department (far right). 4 5

5 IM Has a Productive Partnership with the Amity Foundation in China by the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chan, area director for East Asia and India Wen FangFang travels with Dr. and Mrs. Corbitt for a tour of Washington, D.C. The Amity Foundation, initiated by Chinese Christians in 1985, is the most recognized Christianrelated nonprofit organization in China. It is best known for its strategic and collaborative disaster relief and social development programs nationally and for the Amity Printing Press, which has published more than 140 million Bibles. In 2005, International Ministries responded to a request from the Amity Foundation to train a new generation of executive sta by providing them with scholarships for graduate study in China as well as intensive training in the U.S. In turn, IM invited the involvement of BuildaBridge International, a non-government organization (NGO) that trains community workers worldwide, and of Eastern University (St. Davids, Pennsylvania). BuildaBridge President Dr. Nathan Corbitt and I designed a three-month program for studying the English language and how NGOs serve in Philadelphia. Our first student in 2006 was Mr. Wen He, who is now the associate general secretary of the Amity Foundation. Reflecting on his educational experience, Mr. He says: It was a very good program for me to study English, and beyond this point, it helped me gain a deeper understanding about young U.S. IM is proud to have provided this intensive training to nine Amity executive oicers since 2006, eight of whom have continued to serve with Amity in key positions. university students, local NGOs and the communities, especially where the homeless live. Dr. Corbitt not only mentored the students in his classroom, but also invited them to serve as volunteers in BuildaBridge programs so that they could experience American culture and society. Ms. Wen Fangfang, who attended the training in 2012, shares that in her visit to the White House and museums in Washington D.C., Dr. Corbitt helped her learn a lot about the social system in the United States. For instance, citizens in the United States deeply care about democracy and freedom. IM is proud to have provided this intensive training to nine Amity executive oicers since 2006, eight of whom have continued to serve with Amity in key positions. Dr. Reid Trulson and I led an IM delegation to attend the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Amity Foundation in Nanjing last November. We praise God that while Amity has received high recognition from the Chinese government and society and has expanded its work to other countries, IM can contribute to its human capacity building. We look forward to further strategic cooperation with Amity, a close and active partner of IM in China. Wen FangFang and Dr. Corbitt explore Wissahickon Creek Park in Philadelphia. 6 ON LOCATION WINTER

6 David Wong Continues a Life of Faithful Service by the Rev. James G. Layton Retirement was once thought to be a time to spend the final years of life on a front porch in a rocking chair, but that has not been the case for the Rev. David Wong! David has enjoyed a long relationship with International Ministries, and it did not end when he turned 65. His first contact with IM came in the 1960s, when was a student attending what is now Chung Chi Divinity School in Hong Kong, which American Baptist missionaries helped establish. In the years that followed, David served as the director of the Chek-lap-kok Conference Center, managed by the American Baptist David and Kathy Wong Mission in Hong Kong. He also served with the Kowloon City Swatow Baptist Church, a close partner of IM and the mother church of most other Hong Kong Swatow Baptist churches. David went on to attend the American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, California, and then founded the Chinese Zion Baptist Church in Los Angeles as its first pastor. He retired to mainland China in 2003; but he and his wife, Kathy, knew that they would continue their ministry in whatever way God led them. Sure enough, a year later David accepted a position as a volunteer special assistant to the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chan, IM s area director of East Asia, China and India. Since then, he has been Benjamin s representative in Swatow, China, and has multiplied the impact of the ministry in many other ways. Benjamin explains, David soon became a circuit pastor of the Swatow churches and has been a bridge for mutual understanding and cooperation between churches in China and the U.S. He has also established a foundation that, since 1998, has raised more than $350,000 including funding for several IM matching grants. This support has assisted more than 50 churches and Christian organizations in China. When asked about whether he has plans for another retirement, David says, I will be 80 years old in 2018, which will also be my 50th year of ministry. God has blessed me with spiritual and physical strength. I have great joy serving God, and I love to serve with IM colleagues as long as I can. A Plan for the Next Generation of Mission by Karen Horsman, development director Are you ready for some astounding numbers? International Ministries has 200 active candidates in conversation with IM leadership and 35 active applicants in the process of becoming missionaries with IM. What can we say to this except praise the Lord? God is calling, and believers are responding! It is not a coincidence that IM s new strategic plan is named Responding to the Call. Your prayers have brought forth the next generation of missionaries who have heard and are answering God s call on their lives. Your help is vital to keep this momentum going. IM needs your financial support to make the promise of these new missionaries a reality. A planned gift with IM as a beneficiary will ensure that the old, old story of the love of Jesus Christ continues to be told. A bequest in your will, a charitable gift annuity and a charitable remainder trust are ways to use your God-given assets so that others can enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Will you prayerfully consider one of these planned giving options? The IM Development sta (Al Evon, Ray Schooler, Jim Weigner, Gregg Sneller and Karen Horsman) would be happy to visit with you to discuss your future support of IM. Their information may be found at IM is also blessed to work in partnership with the American Baptist Foundation to provide estate services for donors. Please visit the ABF website at or call , ext We look forward to hearing from you. 7

7 N LOCATION INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES VOL. 8, NO. 1 WINTER 2016 American Baptist Foreign Mission Society P.O. Box 851 Valley Forge, PA A Unique Way to Support Global Missions Christian Community Credit Union, a long-time partner of International Ministries, oers you a unique opportunity that gives to missions while serving your financial needs. Thank you Christian Community Credit Union for partnering with us to help make a real dierence in the needs of people s lives now and for all eternity. Reid Trulson IM Executive Director ACT TODAY! mycccu.com/impartnership CCCU (2228), ext. 558 Don t Miss These 2016 Events Want to learn more about global mission service? HEAR thecall Respond to God s call July 1 4 Green Lake Conference Center Green Lake, Wisconsin Hear the Call is an intense three-day discernment retreat for those God is calling into missionary service. ALL ARE WELCOME! WORLD MISSION CONFERENCE Respond to Jesus prayer July 4 9 Green Lake Conference Center, Green Lake, Wisconsin On Earth as in Heaven Celebrate the fourth of July at Green Lake! Interact with missionaries and international leaders from 14 nations. Participate in global worship and conversation. Explore ways to be more involved in global mission. Registration opens February 29, For more about both events, go to I479.PUB.2/16